A book called Sea of Glass by Barry B Longyear. I'd read one of his short stories 'Enemy Mine' that was later made into a movie and I searched out a few of his books - which vary widely. I eventually found Sea of Glass and it blew my mind away.

I read my paperback so much that it was practically falling to pieces, so I was over the moon whan I found a first edition hardback in gorgeous condion in Tucson for only $8.

(I have bought 5 copies in my time and read the book through about 8 times...)

1st: Bought large format paperback from amazon.

2nd,3rd: Bought HB version and another Large format PB copy (the PB was for my mum) again from Amazon.

4th: Was in London 'being there' for my GF at the time as she spent a week in Hospital undergoing yet another operation to straighten the blood vessels in her lungs. Needed something to read, and bought the first harlequin book by Bernard Cornwell from the Hospital's news agency. It sucked beyond belief and I needed something to wash away the bad taste so I tracked into the city centre and found a small format PB copy....

5th: I gave my previous small format PB to some one, so when I was facing a 28hour flight out to my new life in Australia I wanted another copy (the large format versions are just too 'kill a hamster with the weight of it"
bulky...